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Journalism of Courage
Former India player Ajay Jadeja, who is currently working as a mentor of the Afghanistan team at the World Cup, says the opposition should take the Afghans lightly at their own peril as one poor performance doesn’t make them a bad team.
Afghanistan started their campaign with a defeat to Bangladesh at Dharamsala and are in the national capital to face hosts India on Wednesday. “Look what they have done around the world. They are special and different from everyone else,” Jadeja said on the eve of the match.
“They have not been playing for even 20 years. Other teams have a history of 100 years,” he added.
Jadeja said if the Afghanistan cricketers are playing in the IPL it means they are good and have self-belief in them.
“I don’t have to make them believe that they are equals. They believe in themselves. The IPL auction tells them how good they are. I don’t have to tell them. I am a tourist guide. I am with them and trying to help them and pass on my knowledge to the team,” he said.
Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said the former India player is working with the team on the mental side of the game. “He has a lot of experience of international cricket and of Indian conditions also. So as a mentor, he always talks about how to deal with pressure, how to play against big teams. It has been good so far,” said Shahidi.
The Kotla surface is known for being low and slow but the Delhi track was totally different during the South Africa vs Sri Lanka fixture. On a batting friendly surface, Proteas ended-up with the highest-ever World Cup total.
“I can’t tell them about the conditions. Look at Delhi’s pitch now and how it was during the IPL. The condition changes. After watching the last game, no one can say the pitch here is low and slow. I have played so much cricket in Delhi but it was something new to me as well,” he said.
